METHODS, SYSTEMS AND DEVICES RELATING TO MERGED IMAGES AND STORAGE THEREOF
An e-commerce method involves on-line viewing of a first article through a linking node for virtual merging on another structure. A particular application of the invention is directed to on-line apparel shopping involving a color matching scheme using color codes provided with images to be merged. For example, on-line viewing of one article, such as clothing, on another structure, includes creating an item from image-data corresponding to a colored article selected by an on-line viewer from an on-line viewer site with an image of a colored structure selected by the on-line viewer, and indicating whether the colored article and the colored structure satisfy a color-matching criterion.
1 . For use with a computer-based arrangement having one or more processors, one or more tangible computer readable media that stores executable instruction data that, when executed by the one or more computer processors, causes the following steps to be performed:
obtaining article image data from remote computers operated by one or more retailers offering articles for sale;
providing web-viewable data to a remote computer operated by an on-line viewer, the web-viewable data including the article image data;
merging, in response to input received from the on-line viewer, article image data associated with at least one article with structure image data;
representing the at least one article as a partial data set that includes an outline definition of the article and at least one color code;
storing the partial data set in a virtual closet; and
retrieving the partial data set in response to access by the on-line viewer.
2 . The media of claim 1 , wherein the instruction data, when executed by one or more computer processors, further performs the step of adding size information to the partial data set.
3 . The media of claim 1 , wherein the instruction data, when executed by one or more computer processors, further performs the step of creating a web-viewable image of the article from the partial data set.
4 . The media of claim 1 , wherein the instruction data, when executed by one or more computer processors, further performs the step of correlating the article with other articles having matching features.
5 . The media of claim 4 , wherein the matching features include one or more of structure, size, and color.
6 . The media of claim 1 , wherein the instruction data, when executed by one or more computer processors, further performs the step of providing a user-selectable option for retrieving articles having matching features.
7 . The media of claim 1 , wherein the partial data set has a reduced memory size relative to a memory size of the article image data.
8 . The media of claim 1 , wherein the instruction data, when executed by one or more computer processors, further performs the step of providing a limit on memory capacity provided for the virtual closet of the on-line viewer.
9 . The media of claim 1 , wherein the article is clothing and the structure is at least a portion of a person.
10 . The media of claim 9 , wherein the instruction data, when executed by one or more computer processors, further performs the steps of
providing a plurality of outlines of clothing articles as selections for the on-line viewer;
retrieving, in response to a selection by the on-line viewer, image data for clothing articles corresponding to the selected outline; and
providing images of the clothing articles corresponding to the selected outline.
11 . The media of claim 9 , wherein the instruction data, when executed by one or more computer processors, further performs the step of modifying the at least one color code in response to input received from the on-line viewer.
12 . The media of claim 9 , wherein the instruction data, when executed by one or more computer processors, further performs the step of receiving data from the on-line viewer for updating the structure.
13 . For use with a computer-based arrangement having one or more processors, a method comprising the following steps:
obtaining article image data, electronically over a data path, from remote computers operated by one or more retailers offering articles for sale;
providing web-viewable data to a remote user computer operated by an on-line viewer, the web-viewable data including the article image data;
merging, in response to input received from the on-line viewer, article image data associated with at least one article with structure image data;
representing the at least one article as a partial data set that includes an outline definition of the article and at least one color code;
storing the partial data set in a virtual closet; and
retrieving the partial data set in response to access by the on-line viewer.